Mobile data networks continue to experience an unprecedented explosion in total traffic, particularly as new types of client devices (e.g., web-enabled smart phones, tablet devices, Internet-enabled TVs, gaming consoles, etc.) consume increasingly large amounts of bandwidth. Nowadays, data speeds of network traffic can be as high as 100 Gigabit/second (Gb/s). Accordingly, network operators are migrating from 3G to 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technologies in order to handle this growth and demand.
Certain industry organizations (e.g., 3GPP) have specified the use of the “Diameter protocol” for an Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) operations in LTE and Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks; but there has not been an effort to specify a corresponding Diameter signaling infrastructure. Moreover, as Diameter traffic levels swell, the lack of infrastructure can pose a number of scalability and interconnectivity problems. At least in part to address some of these concerns, entities such as Diameter Signaling Routers (DSRs) and Diameter Routing Agents (DRAs)—referred to as Diameter Core Agents (DCAs)—have been created to relieve LTE and IMS endpoints of certain Diameter routing and load balancing operations.
Generally speaking, network operators may employ network monitoring solutions configured to monitor their services, performance, customer experience, equipment issues, etc. In the present environment, however, the inventors hereof have identified and foreseen a number of issues related to the monitoring of Diameter devices, including, for example, the following: (1) an enormous amount of Diameter traffic may leave and enter the ports of DCA(s), thus making cost-effective monitoring of DCA(s) a challenge; (2) network operators will become more and more concerned with the performance and routing functionality of DCA(s), and are likely to seek a monitoring solution capable of providing specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that give insight into the operation of DCA(s); and (3) there will be a need to provide end-to-end correlated view of signaling messages and transactions.
In view of these, and other concerns, the inventors hereof have developed systems and methods for monitoring traffic across DCAs.